Insignificant Scenes

My neighbors have recently introduced me to the Marvel Universe. We’ve been working through all of the movies one by one, and I’ve loved it. One of things that has really amazed me is the story telling. Joss really doesn’t have a single insignificant scene.

It may not seem that way, there are random scenes that seem to pull out of the story, or reduce the tension, but every single scene is absolutely important to the scene.

We were watching Thor: The Dark World the other night, and there’s a scene where they spend several minutes dropping bottles, shoes and cans down a vortex that takes them to a completely different world. At the end of the scene, the intern drops their car keys down. It’s a hilarious scene, and the first time I watched it, that’s all I thought it was. A way to diffuse the tension, build comedy. But the second time I watched it, I realized there was a very important purpose to this insignificant scene.

Near the end of the movie, two of the characters are stranded. They have no way out, and then they find a vortex. One of the characters automatically knows that this vortex leads into her world. How? She sees cans and bottles… then shoes… and finally her keys. It’s a way to clue the audience into the significance of this one particular vortex, and where it leads. Otherwise, the audience might cry foul when they magically appear exactly where they want to go.

This is just one of the many, many examples found in the new Marvel movies. Every single scene, no matter how insignificant has a very vital part of the story.

When writing, I like to use Scrivener so that I can separate my scenes and figure out where I am. After watching the Marvel Movies, I’ve decided to go back through each scene and write the purpose. How does it move the story forward, and is it vital to the story?

How do you make sure that your stories don’t have non-vital fluff?

Why I Love My Betas

Over the weekend, I read a book that I’d had on my to-read shelf for far too long. The writing was brilliant, the characters well rounded. The world drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading. When I finished, I couldn’t stop thinking about the story, and how good it was.

But as I continued to think about it, I realized that the author had forgotten to clear up one giant plot hole. The more I pondered on it, the more I realized that something like that could make or break a career. And that’s why I rely on my betas to catch things that I may miss.

I started writing at a young age. I finished my first novel in high school, and I edited that thing to death. Or, at least, that’s what I thought I did.

Despite all of my efforts, I felt like maybe there was something missing, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I took a huge leap of faith and exchanged crits with a complete stranger, and she changed my life in ways I never expected.

She tore it apart. She pointed out all of the flaws, all of the plot holes, the pointless scenes, the repetitive dialogue. Because of her, I was able to look at my writing from a completely different perspective, from different eyes, and in many ways, she was right.

As writers, we know our story forwards and backwards. We know where the characters are, what they’re doing, but sometimes, it doesn’t always translate to the page the way we want it to. When I finished the last draft of King’s Councilor, I sent it to my sister. Her response was mainly positive, but then she asked a question.

“What happened to (insert glaring plothole here)?”

It’s important to have other people look at your writing. They’re going to bring their own points of view and they’re going to see things that you don’t.

And that’s why I love my betas. They make me a better writer.

I'm Still Alive!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.  February was a busy month. 

I finally got through the roadblock in The King’s Councilor and the words started flowing.  Every spare moment I had, I worked on the revisions, and yesterday, I finally finished the draft.

I think I’ve learned more from this novel than I have from any of the other ones I wrote.  When I started Cassie’s story, I attempted to write without an outline, to follow the characters’ path as they moved.  Unfortunately, what I ended up with was a tangled mess.  I went through and figured out what didn’t work in the current plot, then rewrote it.  After that, I had critiquers go through it and tear it apart. 

I ended up scrapping about 70% of the previous draft, and I expanded it from 65,000 words to 80,000.  I’m really pleased with the changes that I made, but now that I’ve finished, I know there’s still a few more things I need to fix.  

But before I do that, it’s time to let it sit for a little bit.  I have a fantastic beta going through it as we speak. 

The question is: What now?

My NaNoWriMo group is going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in April, which gives me 25 days before the craziness begins.  Not really enough time to start another project, but I don’t want to sit back and wait the whole time either.

I also have to figure out what I’m going to do for April. 

That’s it for me!  What are the rest of you up to?

Spending Quality Time with the People in My Head

Last week, after finishing my NaNoWriMo novel, I decided to celebrate by reading a book.  I’m a little bit behind on my goal of reading 1 book a week, but I’d decided to focus on finishing writing first.  I’d had the Winner’s Curse on my reading list for a few months, so I picked that up and started to read.

Here’s what I love about reading.  It wakes up my imagination.  I see how other writers do it and I think, “Oh yeah!  This is why I decided to become a writer!”  Even if it has nothing to do with what I’m working on, it always gives me new ideas and makes me want to write more.  For those who don’t believe that writing and reading go hand in hand, I’ve got to say: it does for me.

After I finished (Which, by the way, I hate cliffhangers!  Especially when the next book isn’t out yet.) I started thinking about my next project.  Last year, I was working on my second revision of The King’s Councilor, after getting it torn apart by some awesome betas.  I’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get the beginning more exciting.  One of the chief complaints was that it was repetitive, and believe me, that’s not what I want in my writing.  I sat down with one of my good online friends and brainstormed.

Back to the drawing board

I wrote the first eight chapters and had her reread it for me.  Before I could keep going, NaNoWriMo came, and I wanted to start a new one for the occasion.

I was also a little stuck.  Now that the first eight chapters had changed so drastically, I wasn’t sure that I liked the direction the rest of the book was taking, so I’d probably been using NaNoWriMo as an excuse to procrastinate figuring out the rest of the novel.

But last week, after reading the Winner’s Curse, the ideas started pouring.  They had nothing to do with the book, but the creativity caused by reading was enough to get the juices flowing.  Saturday, I deep cleaned the house.  I needed something to do while the people in my head talked to me.  I’ve learned that when they talk, I’d better stop and listen.

The longer they talked, the more I realized that they knew what needed to happen in their story.  I know it sounds crazy, but when I let them take charge (not while writing, but in planning) I always come up with a better story. 

This week’s been a little chaotic, but I’ve still written about 3,000 words starting from where I left off. 

Do any of you use the people in your head as a muse?  Am I the only one?

Resolutions for 2014

Last day of 2014!

Earlier this year, I wrote out a list of writing goals that I wanted to accomplish by the end of this year.  Right now’s the time of reckoning. 

1.        Finish writing synopsis for Red WIP, revise query.

Done, done and done.  I believe I’ve revised both multiple times throughout the year.  The query has gone through some extreme changes, but I believe that they’re for the good.

2.       Send out first batch of queries by the end of January

This one was harder.  It’s not easy sending something out and hoping that it’s ready.  But I did do it.  (With a lot of encouragement from hubby.)  I sent out a few queries this year.  Not as many as I should have, but I’ve at least started on that journey.

3.       Rewrite Blue WIP.

I used Camp NaNoWriMo in April to do this.  One month and the entire novel rewritten.  Then, I posted it on Scribophile and had some great critique partners tear it apart.  I’m about 1/3 of the way through a second revision for this year.

4.       Revise Yellow WIP.

Yup.  I can’t remember exactly when I did that, I believe it was the months of May and June.  Once I revised, I posted it on Scribophile, and I am ready to do another revision next year!

This year’s goals I actually completed, which is a shock to me.  Maybe I didn’t set my bar very high? 

Here’s a few things that I accomplished even though I didn’t put it in my resolutions:

1.       Write a new novel in the month of November.  I’m just finishing it up, but I did get to 50,000 in the month of November, which was just as fun as it was last year!

2.       Get published.  In July, I published an article in Home Health Aide Digest on maintaining wellness in the mental health population.  It was a pretty exciting accomplishment, for my writing and for my nursing career!

3.       Become an ML for my region for NaNoWriMo.  This was probably one of my highlights of my 2014 writing accomplishments.  Participating in a live writer’s group, and being able to lead it was a dream come true. 

I’m still working on my writing resolutions for next year.  Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with some harder ones to push me even more.

What are some of your resolutions?  I’d love some ideas!

Finding the Drive

So I have a secret.  I haven’t written.  In almost 2 months.  It’s not that I didn’t plan on it, or that I didn’t have any projects going.  In fact, I was working on a major rewrite of my Blue WIP. 

It’s so easy to take a day off, maybe two.  Then two days stretch into a week, and a week becomes a month. 

At first, it was torture, knowing that I needed to write, wanting to write, but not having the time.  But as the weeks passed, it became easier to justify the time off.  I found other things to do, shows to watch, people to hang out with, even stuff to do at work to keep me too busy to write.

Two nights ago, as I was talking to my husband about NaNoWriMo, he mentioned that I would really struggle because of how long I’d gone without writing.  I decided to use the rest of the month of October to build up my writing strength. 

Though easier said than done.

Last night, I struggled to rewrite a scene.  It took me almost 2 hours, which for me, is nowhere near par.  It took me almost an hour just to start.  I reread the sections I’d already finished, worked through what I wanted to write, even forced myself to start and restart several times. 

Tonight again, I’m going to work on a new scene.  There’s a whole new section that I need to add, and I’m hoping that writing from a blank page will help me find the drive and excitement again. 

Either way, I know what’s going to help me to write.  It’s writing.  I have to write daily until I find that drive, that desire that makes me want to never stop.  The fuel for writing is writing.  How crazy is that?

What do you do when you get in a writing slump?

Start With Action?

Yesterday, I started revising The King’s Councilor, starting at chapter 1.  One of the biggest complaints that my betas had was that my characters had completely perfect lives.  They were all happy.  In fact, Cassie achieves her goal in the first chapter.

The first time I read it, I was surprised.  I started in the action.  That’s where the story begins.  Cassie’s going to learn that her goal didn’t start there, but it continued as she attempts to find her place on the king’s council.  So of course, she has to begin by achieving her goal of becoming a councilor. 

Right?

Then the second person said it, then the third.  There was no denying it.  Everyone thought it was too easy.  It didn’t matter that the problems arose after she got her new position.  They wanted to see the conflict, and they wanted to see trials — right in the first chapter. 

I’ve heard the advice to start with action.  It’s good advice.  I remember when I first began working on Servant of an Empire, I started at the beginning.  The story started when the king dies, right?  Sure, but that meant there were multiple boring chapters before the actual story started.  I started that novel so many times, just to get stuck a few pages in.  It wasn’t until I was rereading my outline when I realized that I could cut the first two pages of my outline (12 point font, single spaced) and start where the action really started.

However, it wasn’t until this revision that I realized that maybe it’s not about starting with the action.  It would be easy to throw the main character into some crazy situation, maybe almost ran over by a cart or something.  Or even when I started with Cassie being presented to the king and achieving her status as councilor.  Both of those are action.

So here's my new motto: 

Start with the conflict. 

What’s the main conflict of the story?  Where does your character run across their first stumbling block?  That’s what drives the story.  

Action sequences?  Sure they’re important, but without conflict to guide it, it’ll feel like cheap special effects.  

Working on Multiple Projects

I have a question for all of you.

Do you work on multiple projects at once? 

I tend to work on one at a time, but once I finish a draft, I move to the next one.  However, this month has been a bit odd for me.  I don’t know if it’s that I’ve got enough going on that I feel like I’m jumping from one thing to another without any clear direction.  Maybe I’m losing my ability to multitask.  Or maybe I’m using it too much.  I don’t know.

In April, I finished my Blue WIP, and now it’s up for critiques.  I’ve been getting some awesome feedback, and I love it.  While I wait for the critiques to finish, I’ve been trying to use May to work on revising my Yellow WIP.  As much as I’m enjoying this one, (and trust me, it’s one of my favorites) I’m having a hard time concentrating on it. 

Actually, it’s not as much a matter of concentrating.  It’s a matter of getting down to work.  Every time that I start a section, I get so caught up, I keep reading to the end.  I think I’ve read the whole thing three times this month already.  I love these characters and the story, but I can’t concentrate on it enough to focus on revisions. 

Whenever I’m working on a novel, the characters take up residence in my brain.  In my spare time, or when I have a chance to stare out the window, I let them bumble around in there.  They tell me what their story needs or if there are any changes that need to be made.

Except this time, the characters from the Blue WIP haven’t moved out.  They’re fighting over space in my brain and I feel torn between the two stories.

So now I’m wondering how all of you deal with it.  Do you work on multiple projects at once?  How do you bounce from one to another?

Another One Bites the Dust

Today’s the 25^th of April, and a few hours ago, I just finished my Camp NaNoWriMo goal.  Actually, I exceeded it.  For the month of April, I wanted to revise my Blue WIP, which is now tentatively titled, The King’s Councilor.

The final word count is a little over 65,000 words, which is almost 6,000 more than the previous draft.  And there were quite a few changes – again.  However, this is one of the most painless revisions I’ve ever had to do.

Revising is one of the things I enjoy the most.  There’s always excitement when starting out, writing the first draft, getting the words on the page, but there’s something different when it comes to revising.  It’s almost like the chance to go back, live the story again and fix it.  How many times would I love to be able to do that in my own life?  It’s the chance to delve even deeper into my characters, to explore roads that I hadn’t seen on the first journey.

Plus, being a homebody like myself, it’s always nice to be somewhere familiar.

When I say painless, I mean this is the fastest I have ever revised a draft. 

A previously edited draft

With my first WIP, way back, I began working on a major revision.  It included changing the POV from 1^st to 3^rd person (personal preference) and fixing an ending that just never quite felt right to me.  It took almost 5 months of grueling rewriting, fixing and of course, lots and lots of colored pens.

As I’ve continued writing and revising, I’ve noticed a definite increase in my productivity.  First drafts read like 2^nd or 3^rd drafts of previous works.  I can focus more on the big picture before going into a revision, which decreases the work that I’d have to do later.  Even this WIP, which was a disaster of a first draft (due to my attempt at pantsing), this is only the third draft, and it already feels ready to go out to critiquers.  And the novel I wrote in November will probably need even less revision.

So what’s up?  Have I actually improved without realizing it?  Have I picked up the habits I wished I had when I first started?  OF course, this is all biased opinion, but I feel like I have.  I’m learning what to avoid, so I don’t even put it in the first draft.  That means I don’t have to take it out in later drafts.  I’m learning to add details when I first started out, rather than throwing them in as I revise.  It’s all a matter of practice and hard work.  Really, really hard work.

So while I have critiquers tear up this draft (I love you all!) it’s time to move to the next novel.  Or maybe even start a new one.  The possibilities are endless.

So Little Time

Ever wished you had more hours in the day?  I know I always do.  Though I’d probably just use them to get more sleep. 

Recently, I’ve been finding myself trying to balance even more as I take on extra projects.  I’ve been doing a lot more critiquing, a lot more reading, and I’ve been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo.  Between those, researching and querying agents, the extra overtime at work and the housework that somehow doesn’t always get done, I know why I feel as though there’s a lot on my plate.

Ever feel like your time's getting eaten by a giant caterpillar? 

Despite that, I’m loving this.  I feel like I’m finally getting my stride, forming the habits that I need to continue.  Writing does have a way of consuming just about everything.  Driving to work, I think about my characters.  There are days when they don’t stop chattering in my head.  When I can’t sleep at night (a common side effect of working night shift) I stay up late and do critiquing.  During my lunch break, I pull out a book and read. 

Even this morning, I cleaned the front rooms of my house, so at least I’m not completely slacking on that department.

The secret is finding the time.  Those fifteen minutes that could have been wasted on something else.  The moments of insomnia where I could be tossing and turning in bed.  The lunch break where I could be watching random shows on the TV.  It’s a matter of knowing what to use my time on.  What do I want to focus on?

Plus, setting clear goals helps immensely.  That’s why I love the Camp NaNoWriMo.  I can keep track of my progress throughout the month.  In fact, I’m 4,000 short of completing my goal of 50,000 words revised of the Blue WIP. 

I’ve heard that there’s a way to do the same thing in Scrivener, but I don’t want to set a goal as to how many words need to be in a specific scene or chapter.  Does anyone know how to just set a goal for a specific time and add to it?

We’ve all got the same amount of time.  What matters is how we use it.

Pet Peeves

When I was in 9^th grade, I took a speech class, and I really didn’t enjoy it.  It wasn’t that the teacher was bad, it’s just that I have really bad stage fright, and being graded on speaking in front of people was one of my biggest nightmares.  One of the topics we had to speak about was our biggest pet peeve.

As the wise, mature, 9^th grader that I was, I had no idea if I even had a pet peeve, let alone one that was a higher priority than the others.  I ended up giving my speech on being called short, and even that was a stretch.  I was short, and so I could understand why someone might call me that.

Recently, I’ve had a shorter fuse than normal.  Little things that didn’t bother me now drive me crazy.  I know that there’s a lot going on recently, so it doesn’t really surprise me.  What does surprise me is that I’m starting to notice little things that have become pet peeves over the past few years.  Maybe it’s because I’m living in the adult world and interacting with more people.  Or maybe it’s because of what I’m dealing with.  Whatever it is, I now understand what people mean by pet peeve.

It’s that thing that makes your skin crawl and your stomach clench.  It’s that thing that you just want to grab the person and shout “what were you thinking?”

Or maybe that’s just me.

Here’s a few of my recent pet peeves:

1.       Drivers on the highway who drive under the limit but stay in the left lane.  If people are passing you on the right, then you are in the wrong lane!  If you’re not passing someone, then get out of the left lane.  There is no reason for you to stay in the left lane when you’re the only car on the highway.

2.       People who go back on their word.  Sure, there’s the odd moment when you forget something.  But if you schedule something, especially if it’s something dealing with your business, then don’t forget!  I work night shift.  If you say you’re going to be coming at 11am to fix an appliance, then understand that I’m staying up WAY past my bedtime so you can come.  Please don’t show up at 1:30 that afternoon.  And definitely don’t just not show up at all.

As a nurse, here’s my biggest one. 

3.       People who don’t take care of themselves.  You’ve only got one body.  Take care of it.  Treating it like a rental isn’t going to benefit you in the long run.  If your doctor tells you to reduce sugar or to exercise or if the dentist tells you to brush your teeth, then they probably have a reason to do so.  And if you don’t take care of yourself, if you ignore everything the doctor says, then accept the consequences, don’t blame someone else.

I’m not just writing this to vent.  As I’m dealing with my own little pet peeves, I’ve been working on my Blue WIP, and I’m noticing some of the same things in my main character.  I hadn’t realized it before, but she hates people who pretend they’re someone else.  It was already in there, but now that I understand how pet peeves can get under a person’s skin, it is much easier to write. 

And, if I do say so myself, much more fun to write.  I like creating characters who lose control every once in a while.

How about the rest of you?  Any pet peeves you want to share?  Need to vent?

The Misconception of the Muse

Last week, I finished my revision of my Blue WIP.  It took a while for me to get into the groove, I’d just finished writing a brand new novel, and it was hard to get excited to completely redo something I’d already done.  But that’s the life of a writer, no?

Anyway, I figured that once I started, then it would get easier.  I would work one day then take a few days off, then work another day.  I think what I was really waiting for was for the muse to strike.  I wanted her to take me by the ears, pull me into the chair and just overwhelm my brain with genius.  (A person can dream, can’t they?)

The thing is, that’s not how the muse works.  I know that.  I’ve dealt with her enough times that I know the best way to call on her. 

Start without her.

Writing isn’t always easy.  I wish it was.  There are days when I can barely form complete sentences, let alone anything worth reading.  But for some reason, the action of writing, proving that you’re serious about what you want is what she really wants to see.  It may take days before it finally strikes. 

For me, because I took so long to actually sit down and focus, it took me 2 months to rewrite this novel.  Not that 2 months is a long time, but considering how well I did in November, it felt like an eternity.  But once I reached the second half, once I forced myself into the chair, once I got words on the page, she finally came.  I finished the second half in about 2 weeks and the last 10,000 words were completed in 2 days.  I couldn’t sleep or eat until it was DONE!  

I was so excited about it that I sent it to my alpha almost as soon as I finished.  I knew it was good, or at least much better than the first draft.  I could feel the difference, and I know that it was a combination of hard work, dedication and small part muse.

So what do you think?  Does the muse even exist, or is that just a creative way of prolonging work?

New Year's Resolutions Update

I just finished rewriting my Blue WIP this week, and I’m incredibly happy with the way that it turned out.  The rewrite was grueling, and I know that I still have a lot of work left, but I can see the progress from a first draft to a second revision. 

As I’ve said before, the Blue WIP was an experiment in attempting to write a novel without planning in advance, and to be honest, I don’t feel like that’s the most effective way for me to write.  I truly admire those who can just start and find out what happens as they go along.  It’s something that I can’t do, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it.  Every writer has their own strengths and weaknesses.  Mine happens to be that I write very well when everything is planned out. 

After my first draft, I knew I had to go back and revise, but this time I had a plan.  I added two new characters and made my main character suffer.  I also increased the tension and the threat in the scenes.  Just those few changes (pretty major changes), have made a huge difference in the pacing, the plot and the readability. 

Another great asset to rewriting was that I started reading much more and I started to see patterns in what drew me in and what I found boring.  I found that as I kept reading, it became much easier to see plot turns and twists and to be able to put it in my own writing.  

Now that I’ve finished, I can cross off the first of my New Year’s Resolutions and begin on the second one.  One out of four and got another one halfway done. 

How are the rest of you doing on your resolutions?  

Dealing with Death

I work in a profession that deals a lot with something that most people try to avoid: death. 

Death is something that can’t be avoided.  It happens to everyone at some time, whether it’s someone they love or their own.  Each experience with death is something private and personal.  As a nurse, I have the chance to watch patients and families as they go through it.  It’s a chance to glimpse through the window of a person’s true personality, their true values and how they deal with something so tragic. 

Honestly, I could spend pages and pages writing about different experiences I’ve had with death.  People who’ve died ten minutes to midnight New Year’s Eve, families who plan the death of their parents years in advance, or even people who don’t believe that death is imminent.  I’ve seen angry, inconsolable, relieved, and even happy.  Each time, it feels new, yet the same at the same time.

But that’s not what I want to focus on.  

Death isn’t necessarily always physical.  As I’m working on the Blue WIP, I’m starting to realize that there’s always something that a character fears, and death can be one of the most effective.  Right now, my character is afraid of the death of her career.  This is something she’s dreamed of her entire life, and as she’s watching it crumble and slip away, she’s left to deal with the end of the one thing most important to her.  Now that she’s left vulnerable, I can really delve into who she really is, to learn what she really values once her career dies. 

That’s just one example of death in literature, but there can be so many other possibilities.  Death of romance/relationships, death of beliefs, death of security.  Loss defines us as humans and is one thing that we can all relate with.  Whether or not I’ve experienced the same kind of loss, I can always understand what it’s like to deal with it. 

So, right now, I’m working on throwing a bit more ‘death’ into my writing.  I want the reader to glimpse through my characters’ windows, to see who they truly are when they lose the one thing most important to them.  Who are they when they have to deal with grief and loss?

Gaining Momentum

I’m about 35,000 words into my new version of the Blue WIP, and I’ve reached the point that I’m wanting to write all the time.  I usually find that between words 0-10,000, I’m rushing to write, the ideas are fresh, and the story is just starting with so much potential.  But by about word 10,000, I lose a bit of momentum.  And this time, I had enough stuff going on in my own, personal life that writing wasn’t really a priority.

Yet, there’s always that desire to keep going.  To finish the story.  The characters become insistent, begging me to tell their story, to give them their happy ending.  And they deserve that.  We started out this journey together, and they can’t finish it on their own. 

So I continue.  I push through, and then once I reach about 30,000 words, I gain momentum again.  The story’s at its peak, the climax, and things are starting to get good.  There’s so much going on that it’s hard to pull away.  Just like reading a book, writing the book is the same.  The climax makes it hard to put it down and leave it be.  I find myself waking up early to spend more time writing, and using spare moments of time to get a few more words in. 

Whenever my husband or I get home, I can’t wait to tell him what happened.  Not during my day, but during my characters’ day.  They’re such a large part of my life that I feel like they’re real. 

And with the changes that I’ve made, I’m loving the story more and more.  There’s enough that I want to see how the changes effect the story.  I want to see if the changes pull through to the end.  I’ve got a good feeling about this, and it makes me happy despite the crazy things that are going on in my own life. 

So here’s to the next 10,000 words!  

Rewriting Step One: Admit You Have a Problem

Right now, I’m in the middle of some pretty heavy revisions on my Blue WIP.  My wonderful and dependable alpha even had a hard time getting through it.  It was a big experiment of 2013, trying to write without an outline and it ended up in a pretty big disaster. 

This novel was a sequel to my Red WIP (now ready for submission, yay!) and I wasn’t quite sure where I was going with the story.  Fast forward to November when I got the idea for the third book in the series. 

Series.  Did I seriously just write that?  Wow. 

Anyway, this book was the story of another one of my characters, set several years after the sequel.  The world had changed, and many of the changes occurred because of what happened in the second book.

Or, at least what SHOULD have happened in the second book.

But I was stuck.  I couldn’t figure out how to fix all of the errors in the second book and still have it bridge from the first to the third book.  Then, a week ago, my husband and I took an impromptu road trip to see my family.  9 hours driving through the snowstorms of Wyoming gave me plenty of time to think.  And not get distracted by the internet or anything else.  I pulled out my brand new tablet and took notes of what I wanted to keep.  And what I needed to scrap.

Usually, when I write stories, I start with the outline.  But I already had the basic idea for this novel.  After all, I’d already written it.  All I have to do is completely rewrite it and fix all of the parts that don’t work. 

Fortunately for me, I knew exactly what wasn’t working for the story.  Most of the characters.  Because I hadn’t planned, I didn’t know what they were doing or where they were going.  So this time, I started out with character bios.  I don’t go too in depth with most characters, but with these ones, I pulled out an excel sheet and made a table of all of the characters.  I then wrote their motives and needs.  For every single character.  As I did that, I realized that I was missing a character.  There was no major antagonist, no one whose needs and desires clashed with those of the protagonist. 

Enter Aza.  Let me tell you, she’s quite a character, and very different from anyone I’ve ever written before.  I’m excited for her to come into the story. 

Now it’s time for revisions.  Fortunately, I love those.

New Year, New Goals

Happy 2014!

It’s the beginning of the New Year, which means a time of self-reflection and new starts.  I have quite a few New Year’s resolutions, and as many of you might guess, many of them have to do with writing. 

So here’s my list so that you can all keep me on track.

1.  Finish writing synopsis for Red WIP, revise query.

2. Send out first batch of queries by the end of January.

3. Rewrite Blue WIP

4. Revise Yellow WIP

Having a clear list of goals is what really excites me for this year.  And I’ve already started.  I’ve finally written a draft of the synopsis that I like.  It’s at least the right direction.  Though I’d much rather write an entire new novel than a synopsis.  I think I’ve put too much pressure on it, though if my dozens of query drafts are any indication, I’ve still got a ways to go.

I’ve also written a clear outline on my Blue WIP with several changes that I really feel good about.  I figured out what was wrong with it.  Mostly just the beginning and the middle.  And most of the ending.  I started a new draft yesterday, and I’m already excited to keep going. 

I’m off to a good start, and I hope I can just keep this energy up! 

What resolutions do you have for 2014?  Are you already working toward them?

Writing News for the Week

Time to do a happy dance!

Yesterday, I finished the first draft of my Blue WIP, and I must say there were quite a few surprises at the very end, leaving another opening for another story.

So is this the end?  Have I finished my manuscript?

No!  Of course not!  There are several things that are very unique about this WIP.  Like I said before, I wrote this one without any sort of outline, which is quite a first for me.  I’ve never been able to finish a WIP without knowing where I’m going.  And that will create much more work for me in the next revision.  There were plot points I’m almost positive that I deserted halfway through.  I also have a character who just stood on the sidelines as the other characters ignored him. I think he needs to do a little bit more in the next draft.

For now, I’m going to leave it alone for now.  I’ve sent it off to my Alpha, the one person I trust with everything I’ve ever written.  In fact, she’s read everything, whether she wanted to or not.  And she’s not afraid to tell me what she really thinks. 

Then the revising begins.  Going through and rewriting just about everything.  

My first drafts are like very detailed outlines, I don’t focus on the wording or if I’m using passive tense.  I only focus on the story that needs to be told.  Now I'm going to have to focus on the syntax, the verbage, all of the stuff that I ignored while frantically scribbling away.  This is where the real work begins.

Fortunately for me, I love revising and editing.  It’s probably my most favorite part of writing.  I can use colors to focus on different points.  Green for dialogue, red for descriptions, purple for themes.  I love printing out a draft and crossing out the words, making it messy and crazy, knowing that eventually, the mess will become something even more beautiful.  It's kind of like deep cleaning.  The messier it gets when you first start, the better it looks in the end.

So while I let that WIP sit, I’ll begin working on revising my Red WIP.  I’ve received several critiques and reviews that I think will help me create a much stronger draft.  While I do that, I have someone beta reading my White WIP, for when I finish with the Red WIP's revisions.

What are you working on now?  How do you edit?  And which do you prefer, editing or writing? 

What have I learned this week in writing?

Have you ever realized that what you’re writing something that you’ve never experienced or wanted to experience?

Just to premise this, I am not an animal person.  I’ve been terrified of dogs my entire life.   When I was little, my entire body broke out in hives the size of baseballs whenever I was around any animal with fur.  I still remember the oatmeal baths that I had to have.  I’ve never been fond of the smells, the fur all over the place or the noise that they always make.  Dogs barking all night, cats shedding, or the smell of my cousin’s turtles just drove me crazy.   My husband and I have an agreement that he can have pets once I’m dead.  I’m not saying this because I’m have to say something against pet owners.  

I understand that there are people who don’t like babies, children, sports, etc.  Everyone has their own personal preferences.  Everyone has their likes and dislikes.

Mine just happen to be animals.  And I never understood pet owners.  Why would they stay home from work because their pet is sick?  Why would they let their pet sleep on their bed?  It never made sense.

Gradually, I’ve incorporated animals into my writing, and they were so subtle that I barely noticed that they were there.  Then I needed to start researching the difference between dogs and cats.  I learned that cats are natural hunters.  I seriously thought dogs were the hunters, but apparently not.  I went to the zoo to watch animals in their ‘natural’ habitat. 

Today, I think I reached the apex.  I wrote a scene where my MC talked about how much she missed her dog.  Sure, this isn’t what you might consider a normal dog, but in essence, that’s what she misses.  Her dog’s been a constant companion, and now she’s alone.  She misses the animal.

This is an emotion that I really haven’t been exposed to, much less experienced.  As I wrote the scene, something clicked.  I finally understood pet owners, and their strange attachment.  It’s not about the smells that animals give off, or the fur all over the furniture, it’s the companionship that’s provided. 

Sure, I probably will probably never have an animal in my house.  I’m still terrified of dogs, but I feel like a tiny part of me now will be able to sympathize with those whose pets are sick, or dying. 

Writing can be almost cathartic because it helps me work through issues that I never even knew I had.  And it pushes me to understand others, to try and put myself in their situations.

What about you?  How do you try to put yourself in your character’s shoes when you don’t understand them?

What am I working on now?

Right now, I am in the process of getting my Red WIP critiqued and edited by some great betas that I’ve found over on scribophile.com.  If you haven’t used that website before, I highly recommend it.

While I let that one sit and simmer, I’ve been working on the first draft of my Blue WIP.  I’ve found that each WIP is different, challenging me as a writer.  This WIP is based on a challenge that I’ve created for myself. 

I’m a plotter, not a pantser.  I have to know what’s going on and how my characters are going to behave before I write a single word.  But I was starting to wonder if that was restricting me.  So this WIP, I decided to start writing and see where it took me.  I began about a year ago, back before things got a little crazy.  I felt that of all my WIP’s, I’d be able to do that with this one.  It’s a sequel, based off of the Red WIP currently being critiqued.  I already knew my characters, as well as their motivations, so it was much easier for me to run with it.  (So to speak!)

I pulled this draft out (about 20,000 words) and reread it, taking notes on post-its as I went.   Then I organized my notes into sections.  Here’s what I ended up with.

What amazed me more than the fact that I could write 20,000 words without an outline, was how well that random details weaved in together.  Though I still have a basic idea, I still haven’t written an outline. 

What is my Blue WIP about?

Cassie's seen injustice all her life, and she's ready to make a stand.  When King Brednon creates the school for future leaders, she enrolls, intent on becoming one of the king's councilors.  But becoming a councilor isn't all she thought it would be.  The other councilors treat her with distrust and prejudice, just because she's a woman. 

When a neighboring kingdom attacks at the borders, Cassie sees this as her chance to prove herself.  She convinces King Brednon to let her go to Mocra and speak with their king.  When she arrives, she learns that there's more happening than a border conflict.

There are days that I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m finding that very exciting!

How do all of you write?  Are you pantsers or plotters?  What are you working on?